Minutes:
The Director of Public Services presented the report which provided
performance information for 2018/19 on complaints dealt with by the Council
and its housing partners at Stages 1 and 2 of the Corporate Complaints
procedure and complaints and enquiries to the Mayor, Councillors and MPs
logged on the Council’s complaints management system during 2018 -19.
It was explained that there were a total of 7828 complaints and enquiries
received in 2018/19 which represented a 12% increase when compared to the
previous year. Attention was drawn to the breakdown of complaints and
enquiries by directorate and the percentages of those responded to within the
standard response times appearing as Tables 1, 2 and 3. It demonstrated that
the Council had improved in resolving complaints at the first point of contact.
The Committees attention was drawn to the breakdown of complaints
received by ward as set put at paragraph 5.4 and recent trends in relation to
the reasons for complaints. It was noted that the top three issues identified as
the reasons for complaints in 2018/19 were in relation to environment,
housing strategy and Council Tax.
It was explained that the Independent Adjudicator, who deals with Stage 3
complaints on behalf of the Council, had received 9 less complaints this year.
There was an increase this year in complaints upheld by the Independent
Adjudicator where she had investigated.
The Committee was referred to the Local Government and Social Care
Ombudsman Annual Letter which provides a summary and commentary on
complaints made against the Council. In 2018/19 127 complaints were
received a decrease of 19 on 2017/18.The LGSCO was critical of the time
taken to implement agreed remedies in a couple of the complaints.
The Director of Public Services confirmed that whilst there has been a
significant increase in complaints over the last two financial years the Council
was dealing with them faster and resolving them earlier.
In response to the significant increase in complaints and enquiries in
Resources and Regeneration the Director of Public Services could not at this
stage provide an explanation as to why they have gone up and other areas
have gone down. It could possibly be due to incorrect categorisation.
In response to further inquiry the Dire3cxtor of Public Services confirmed that
Stage 2 complaints are handled by the Corporate Complaints Team and an
independent review will be conducted.
It was confirmed that whilst the Council is improving the provision of services
online all conventional methods remain in place. In response to the specific
concerns relating to homelessness it was explained by the Director of Public
Services that officers remain committed to face to face contact with the right
people.
In response to an enquiry in relation to attempts to capture equalities
information the Director of Public Services confirmed that there remained
difficulties in obtaining such details, which would be very informative. The
Council however remains keen to develop methods to capture such
information.
In response to an enquiry about any available benchmarking to inform how
well the Council is doing compared to other similar local authorities. The
Director of Public Services confirmed that whilst he could locate statistics for
statutory complaints he could not find any statistical information for corporate
complaints by other local authorities. However any information would have to
be treated with caution as no local authority complaints processes are the
same. By way of illustration, in Lewisham we have an Independent
Adjudicator which not many local authorities do not.
RESOLVED that the report be noted.
Supporting documents: